Source: Texas Animal Health Commission | Feb. 23, 2021
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) applications for the eight Texas areas designated as having veterinary shortages. Applications may be submitted through April 16, 2021, by 5 p.m. (ET).
The VMLRP is authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act and helps qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of debt incurred while pursuing their veterinary medicine degree in return for at least three years of service in a designated veterinary shortage area.
To be eligible to apply to the VMLRP, an applicant must:
- Have a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), or the equivalent, from a college of veterinary medicine accredited by the AVMA Council on Education;
- Have qualifying educational loan debt as defined in 7 CFR 3431 Section 3;
- Secure an offer of employment or establish and/or maintain a practice in a veterinary shortage situation, as determined by the secretary, within the time period specified in the VMLRP service agreement offer; and
- Provide certifications and verifications in accordance with 7 CFR 3431 Section 16.
The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) will offer a webinar for interested Texas veterinary applicants
on Thursday, March 4, 2021, from 6:30 to 7 p.m. (CST). The webinar will provide guidance on how to apply followed by a question and answer forum. To register for the webinar, please email [email protected] and include your name and email address in the body of the email.
For more information about the FY 2021 VMLRP application process, visit https://nifa.usda.gov/vmlrpapplicants or contact [email protected]. While the TAHC does not administer this program, the
commission is designated to nominate and certify veterinary shortage situations allocated by USDA.
Comments or questions may be directed to [email protected].